Nice

Axel Witsel

Midfielder#28

Photo: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bio

Born in Liège in 1989, Axel Witsel made his senior debut with Standard Liège in 2006 and now plays for OGC Nice. He has also played for S.L. Benfica, FC Zenit Saint Petersburg and Tianjin Tianhai F.C.. He plays as a midfielder. His honours include Belgian Golden Shoe.

Key facts

Age: 37
Height: 1.85 m
Weight: 82 kg
Number: #28
Born: 12/1/1989
Birthplace: Liège
Debut: 2006
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: Belgium

Official profile

ESPN player page ↗Wikipedia ↗Wikidata ↗

Follow

Instagram@axelwitsel28 X@axelwitsel28 YouTubeWebsiteaxelwitsel28.com

Official accounts listed on Wikidata.

Career

2006–now

2006–2011Standard Liège
2011–2012S.L. Benfica
2012–2016FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
2017–2018Tianjin Tianhai F.C.
2018–2022Borussia Dortmund
2022–2025Atlético Madrid
2025–2026Girona FC
2026–OGC Nice
2004Belgium national under-15 association football teamNational team
2005Belgium national under-16 association football teamNational team
2005–2006Belgium national under-17 association football teamNational team
2006–2007Belgium national under-18 football teamNational team
2006Belgium national under-19 football teamNational team
2007–2009Belgium national under-21 football teamNational team
2008–Belgium men's national football teamNational team

Career stats

Season

Swipe for more

Stats from official league and public sports feeds. Updated hourly. Career and honours from Wikidata (CC0).

	STRT	FC	FA	YC	SHOT	SOG
2026-27 French Ligue 1	7	2	9	0	7	2
2026 International Friendly	1	2	0	0	1	0
2026 FIFA World Cup	0	2	1	1	0	0

Every game we hold

Includes finals, playoffs and exhibition games, so totals run higher than regular-season figures.

Season
2026-27 Ligue 1Nice	7	0	0	7	2	571	0	0	0	7	0	2	9	0	9	0
2026 FIFA World CupBelgium	2	0	0	0	0	31	1	0	0	2	2	2	1	0	1	0
2026 International FriendlyBelgium	4	0	0	1	0	99	0	0	0	4	3	2	0	0	2	0
2025-26 LaLigaGirona	32	1	2	20	5	2,533	1	1	1	32	2	34	37	0	41	0
2024-25 LaLigaAtlético de Madrid	14	0	1	1	0	846	1	0	1	14	5	4	5	0	8	0
2024-25 UEFA Champions LeagueAtlético de Madrid	4	0	0	0	0	270	1	0	0	4	1	3	1	0	8	0
2024 International FriendlyBelgium	2	–	–	–	–	90	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2023-24 LaLigaAtlético de Madrid	35	2	0	8	3	2,784	5	0	4	35	5	23	29	0	31	0
2023-24 UEFA Champions LeagueAtlético de Madrid	10	0	0	2	1	888	0	0	1	10	0	8	3	0	11	0
2022-23 LaLigaAtlético de Madrid	33	0	0	7	0	2,255	2	1	0	33	8	19	15	0	28	0
2022 FIFA World CupBelgium	3	0	0	1	0	270	0	0	0	3	0	5	4	0	2	0
2022 International FriendlyBelgium	1	0	0	0	0	90	0	0	1	1	0	3	0	0	2	0
2022-23 UEFA Champions LeagueAtlético de Madrid	6	0	1	1	0	461	0	0	0	6	1	2	3	0	9	0
2022 UEFA Nations LeagueBelgium	6	1	0	2	1	467	1	0	0	6	0	7	5	0	8	0
2021-22 BundesligaBorussia Dortmund	29	2	0	8	2	1,945	4	0	0	29	7	25	30	0	31	0
2021-22 UEFA Europa LeagueBorussia Dortmund	2	0	0	0	0	49	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	2	0
2021-22 UEFA Champions LeagueBorussia Dortmund	6	0	0	1	1	471	1	0	0	6	1	5	4	0	9	0
2021 UEFA Nations LeagueBelgium	2	0	0	0	0	180	1	0	0	2	0	1	1	0	5	0
2020-21 BundesligaBorussia Dortmund	15	0	0	12	2	1,130	4	0	0	15	2	16	20	0	18	0
2020-21 UEFA Champions LeagueBorussia Dortmund	5	1	0	4	2	362	0	0	0	5	1	2	5	0	4	0
2020 UEFA Nations LeagueBelgium	5	1	0	7	4	450	2	0	0	5	0	9	6	0	4	0
2019-20 BundesligaBorussia Dortmund	28	4	5	31	7	2,245	4	0	2	28	3	38	40	0	32	0
2019-20 UEFA Champions LeagueBorussia Dortmund	7	0	0	5	0	611	1	0	0	7	0	12	12	0	10	0
2018-19 BundesligaBorussia Dortmund	33	4	1	36	11	2,873	2	0	0	33	1	26	50	0	41	0
2018-19 UEFA Champions LeagueBorussia Dortmund	7	1	0	10	3	630	0	0	0	7	0	6	5	0	6	0
2018 UEFA Nations LeagueBelgium	4	0	0	2	0	360	0	0	0	4	0	5	2	0	6	0
2018 FIFA World CupBelgium	6	0	0	6	1	540	1	0	0	6	0	9	9	0	6	0
2018 AFC Champions League EliteTianjin Quanjian	7	0	1	5	0	630	2	0	0	7	0	6	12	0	11	0
2016-17 UEFA Europa LeagueZenit St Petersburg	6	0	1	10	2	540	2	0	0	6	0	11	15	0	8	0
2015-16 UEFA Champions LeagueZenit St Petersburg	7	1	1	12	6	630	4	0	0	7	0	13	13	0	7	0
2014-15 UEFA Europa LeagueZenit St Petersburg	6	1	0	5	2	518	1	0	0	6	0	14	15	0	5	0
2014-15 UEFA Champions LeagueZenit St Petersburg	7	1	0	4	1	599	1	0	1	5	0	12	9	0	6	0
2014 FIFA World CupBelgium	4	0	0	9	5	390	1	0	0	4	0	4	12	0	3	0
2013-14 UEFA Champions LeagueZenit St Petersburg	11	0	0	9	4	914	0	1	0	8	0	10	20	0	15	0
2012-13 UEFA Europa LeagueZenit St Petersburg	4	1	0	7	4	360	2	0	0	4	0	6	6	0	5	0
2012-13 UEFA Champions LeagueZenit St Petersburg	5	0	0	4	1	450	1	0	1	5	0	13	6	0	6	0
2011-12 UEFA Champions LeagueBenfica	11	0	1	9	1	990	0	0	1	10	0	16	14	0	10	0
2009-10 UEFA Europa LeagueStandard Liege	6	3	0	6	4	540	1	0	0	6	0	2	10	0	8	0
2009-10 UEFA Champions LeagueStandard Liege	6	0	1	5	2	534	1	0	0	6	0	13	5	0	9	0
2008-09 UEFA Champions LeagueStandard Liege	2	–	–	–	–	180	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Career40 seasons	390	24	15	257	77	30,776	48	3	13	380	43	388	435	0	427	0

Game log, 2026-27 Ligue 1

Game
24 Oct @ BrestW 2-1 24 Oct	0	0	76	1	0	3	1
19 Oct @ LyonL 1-2 19 Oct	1	0	87	1	0	0	2
12 Oct v StrasbourgW 2-1 12 Oct	1	1	86	1	0	3	1
21 Sept v LilleW 2-1 21 Sept	1	0	90	1	1	1	1
13 Sept @ AJ AuxerreL 0-1 13 Sept	2	1	86	1	0	1	1
6 Sept v Le MansD 1-1 6 Sept	2	0	73	1	1	0	1
30 Aug @ Paris FCL 0-3 30 Aug	0	0	73	1	0	1	2

Splits, Ligue 1

Split
AwayHome or away · won 1 of 4	4	0.8	0.3	80.5	1.0	0.0	1.3	1.5
HomeHome or away · won 2 of 3	3	1.3	0.3	83.0	1.0	0.7	1.3	1.0
LossesResult	3	1.0	0.3	82.0	1.0	0.0	0.7	1.7
WinsResult	3	0.7	0.3	84.0	1.0	0.3	2.3	1.0
DrawsResult	1	2.0	0.0	73.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	1.0
Regular seasonStage · won 3 of 7	7	1.0	0.3	81.6	1.0	0.3	1.3	1.3
AJ AuxerreOpponent · won 0 of 1	1	2.0	1.0	86.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	1.0
BrestOpponent · won 1 of 1	1	0.0	0.0	76.0	1.0	0.0	3.0	1.0
Le MansOpponent · won 0 of 1	1	2.0	0.0	73.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	1.0
LilleOpponent · won 1 of 1	1	1.0	0.0	90.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
LyonOpponent · won 0 of 1	1	1.0	0.0	87.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
Paris FCOpponent · won 0 of 1	1	0.0	0.0	73.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	2.0
StrasbourgOpponent · won 1 of 1	1	1.0	1.0	86.0	1.0	0.0	3.0	1.0
Allianz Riviera, NiceGround · won 2 of 3	3	1.3	0.3	83.0	1.0	0.7	1.3	1.0
Groupama Stadium, LyonGround · won 0 of 1	1	1.0	0.0	87.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, AuxerreGround · won 0 of 1	1	2.0	1.0	86.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	1.0
Stade Francis-Le Blé, BrestGround · won 1 of 1	1	0.0	0.0	76.0	1.0	0.0	3.0	1.0
Stade Jean Bouin, ParisGround · won 0 of 1	1	0.0	0.0	73.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	2.0

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